Storm season ends at National Tourney

ENID, Okla. -- The Southeast Community College baseball season ended on Sunday after a loss to Phoenix in an elimination game of the NJCAA World Series.

The Storm dropped the elimination game to Phoenix 13-11 a day after losing their first round game to Lansing 8-4.

In the elimination game against Phoenix, the two teams traded leads early, but a seven run third inning for the Storm gave them a 10-6 lead.

SCC held that lead for the next two innings, but gave up one run in the sixth inning and three runs in the seventh inning, which tied it. The two teams traded a run in the eighth inning, but Phoenix came up with two runs in the ninth inning and held SCC off in the bottom of the ninth for the win.

SCC had 14 hits in the game. Ryan Cornell led the way with two doubles, a single, four RBI's and two runs scored. Masen Prososki had three hits, an RBI and a run scored. Alec Lee and Ben Palensky had two hits each while Wyatt Meyer had a double.

Kayleb Sanderson, Joseph Vargas and BJ Sparks combined to pitch the nine innings. Sparks pitched the last three innings and took the loss.

SCC fell to the loser's bracket with an 8-4 loss to Lansing on Saturday. Lansing got out to an 8-0 lead before SCC finally scored three runs in the seventh inning and one run in the ninth inning.

The Storm had 11 hits in the game, including three doubles and four RBI's by Ryan Cornell. Justin Lott had a double and a single while Nolan Meyer had two singles. Masen Prososki also had a double.

Trey Kissack took the loss for SCC, pitching five innings and giving up six runs (three earned) on six hits while striking out two and walking two. Nate Lorenzen, Gavin Gragg and Ruben Ramirez combined to pitch the remainder of the game.

Storm coach Dion Parks said it was a great venue to play at and said there were some impressive teams.

"Every team had some really nice players and it was some of the best teams in the country," Parks said. "There was a lot of offense and that happens at the end of the year when pitchers are kind of wore down and offenses start to pick things up. We made some mistakes and these teams made us pay for it and we just came up a little bit short."

Parks said Cornell's weekend was impressive to watch.

"He has had a really good year," Parks said. "He's an outstanding competitor and he just really hit the ball well. He wasn't afraid of the moment and he's one of the hardest working players we've ever had. We are really proud of what he accomplished."

SCC's season comes to an end after posting a 40-20 record. It was the team's first trip to the JUCO World Series in school history.

Parks said there is only going to be one team happy at the end of the JUCO World Series and his team has nothing to hang their head about.

"I'm really proud of these guys," Parks said. "We were the first team in Nebraska history to make a JUCO World Series and we are really proud of what we accomplished. It's a great group of kids and this won't be the best thing they'll ever do in their lives. They have a lot in front of them. It's a special group and it was a pleasure to coach them."

Parks said they also couldn't have accomplished it without the support of the community.

"I just want to thank our kids, their families, my staff and SCC," Parks said. "And also the town of Beatrice for their support."

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